Theoric and his group were following Selene and hers who were heading towards the central elevator that would take them straight down.
"At the center, there is an elevator that will take us to their main underground city where we will find the portal located in the military district." She explained leading them, killing all in her way.
"Interesting," said Theoric, thinking an underground city below an underwater city was kinda neat.
Nina wielding her bow, eager to prove herself, shot down a couple of Deviants that started firing from openings above until a green claw from Grani tore through taking care of the rest as they passed.
Selene's vampiric minions didn't stay idle as they lunged at any Deviant that showed up, ripping them apart and draining them dry.
Suddenly the wall holding the ocean at bay gets blasted open pushing everyone back as the waters rushed in sweeping everything away.
Theoric instantly reacts creating a bubble around him and his girls before sending an energy line to grab Selene and reel her in, and then Grani after getting him to shrink. Each of them thanking him, including Grani with some nudging from Sigyn, except Selene who didn't see the need.
"This is good, our forces will have an advantage in the water while the Deviants can only drown, when we get to the elevator we should open it up and let the water flood down," said Selene, not losing focus of her goal.
"You're welcome!" Said Sigyn to Selene, a bit miffed for Theoric at not getting a thank you for saving her from being washed away.
Theoric grinned, patting his wife's head to calm her, then asked Selene,- "Which way, I'll take us."
Selene not paying attention, understanding, or caring about what Sigyn was yelling for, pointed in a direction.
Theoric then flew the bubble, passing by drowning Deviants who were being set upon by Selene's vampiric forces that rejoined them as they passed.
Visibly disturbed by the situation, Sigyn grabbed Theoric's hand, squeezing it a little tighter as the lights began flickering in the dark spooky corridor. Glad to have a barrier between her and those horid creatures, with subtle glances at Selene, not forgetting where they came from.
Sigyn may have grown up in a battle-hardened society that honored warriors who fought bloody battles to the death, giving her some preparations for such scenes, but seeing it first-hand was still a bit much even for her.
Nina and Lydia, on the other hand, didn't have any problems with the former's experience as Medusa before being rescued and the latter's experience as a Siren who ate human flesh for substance.
Finding the elevator entrance, Theoric pried it open with his energy, letting the water flow down.
Selene laughed watching her minions once again get swept away down the shaft,- "Try not to die, we got more fighting ahead," she called out to them playfully.
Sigyn gave her another weird look while everyone else ignored her disturbing behavior as Theoric began their descent into the darkness.
Grani not a fan of the water was being especially good today, not even scratching the energy barrier as he would normally do just to annoy Theoric. Instead, sticking close to Sigyn, clinging to her leg as if his life depended on it, he was much more at home in the dirt.
Lydia could only sigh to herself as she continued to feel like a burden, never able to use her powers effectively with so many downsides to them. If she tried an enchant or scream, her allies would be affected, through training though, she's been able to improve in some areas, but still not enough for indoor use.
Midway down, they could see the spot where the elevator must have been torn away, crashing down after being unable to hold back the weight of the water.
Reaching the bottom, they found other Atlanteans from a different group stuck behind a metal wall.
Seeing Theoric and the rest, they begrudgingly made room seeing as they were outnumbered with more Aqueos showing up and a few of their corrupted brethren helping them.
The vast majority of Atlanteans weren't fans of their new allies and simply followed the king's will to work together, accepting the fact that it could help them take care of the Deviants their most hated foe.
Maneuvering the bubble on by, one irritated Atlantean got the wise idea to try and poke it and see if it would pop and drown them. The clinking sound seemed to echo as everyone froze, the Atlantean's blood turning colder than it already was as all eyes within the tiny room turned towards them. A shiver going through their spines as a couple of them gulped in fear, almost shiting themselves thinking how everyone could hear it.
Done messing with them, Theoric turned back to the metal wall, extending energy hands out from the bubble to the bottom, forcibly lifting it up, breaking whatever contraption was holding it in place.
The water once more flowing, taking those who were swimming with it as it spilled out into the halls.
Soon more sealed walls came crashing down to stim the tide and keep it contained, cutting off some of the men.
Theoric moving the bubble out after propping the door open with energy looked towards Selene for where to next.
Selene pointed,- "That way, and could you speed things up, times a ticking," she said impatiently, earning another displeased look from Sigyn and Nina.
"Least you could say is please," huffed Sigyn, unaware of why exactly Selene was so pushy all of a sudden. She wasn't sure why she felt the need to collide with Selene, to say it was out of the ordinary would be an understatement for her, someone who always tries to be nice and avoid conflict.
The change in her environment, her situations, the newfound pressure, fear, anxiety, all of it was coming to a boiling point. Her attempts to change the way she thinks and acts so she could be more useful to Theoric, to stand with him in battle. Sigyn was experiencing a bit too much at once causing her to lash out, though mild it may seem, for her, it was significant to initiate a conflict, no matter how small.
Selene's eyes narrowed at that, this was a pivotal moment for her, a rare opportunity, she would expect one to excuse her pushy attitude given the circumstances. Thinking about it again though, she never did explain why it was so important to her, and she only ever talked to Theoric about needing to move quickly to catch her long-time foe.
Theoric noticing Sigyn's state, spoke up for Selene before she could retort,- "Sigyn, this is war, there is no time for pleasantries in war, why don't you put that thing to use and have him clear the way," he said referring to Grani to get his point across but came off sounding more of a jerk than he intended.
Grani growled as Sigyn frowned,- "Theo, how many times do I have to say his name is Grani, don't call him a thing or it or anything else, he's part of the family now, you have to get along."
Selene shouted,- "ENOUGH!" Before lowering her voice,- "I don't have time for this, act now or I'll find other means."
Sigyn still a little upset, decided to take the blame as she bent down to coax Grani,- "Come on Grani, you can do it."
Grani reluctantly agreed for his mistress' sake while glaring at Theoric who made a nasty grin causing him to flinch.
"Prepare yourself," said Theoric before immediately dropping him into the cold water with a smirk.
Bubble erupting from his green mouth cursing Theoric as his butt hit the ground. Scrambling back to his feet, size growing, he eyed Theoric from the side wishing for nothing more than to fight it out with him again before turning his head to the sealed walls ahead, charging at them, picturing Theoric's face on each one he demolished.
"It is useful, I should find someone like him to turn," commented Selene with Theoric nodding in agreement, only to stop under the feeling of Sigyn's glare.
Willing the bubble forward, they rode the water along until they came to a ledge where it opened up to the city.
Under Selene's direction, they dropped down, Grani right next to them cracking the ground as he landed. Dropping the bubble, no longer needing it with the water spreading out in multiple directions, it would be a while before it could flood this entire place.
The Aqueos and few vampiric Atlanteans equipped with blasters followed, their bodies hitting the ground like rag dolls, unconcerned about the damage. The normal Atlanteans not wishing to stick around took the opportunity to quietly leave, no longer in sight as they went their separate way, not wishing to be anywhere near them.
"I can no longer wait, I'll go on ahead, if you can't keep up my minions will know where to go, you can follow them," Selene said as she picked up the pace. She no longer cared about their feelings or keeping good relations with them, this was far more important, she could worry about other things later.
"Minions huh?" mumbled Theoric to himself.
"Not to worry, I learned some new tricks since the last time we met," said Theoric as he used some wind power to help speed up the group much to Selene's pleasant surprise as she thought about how much more interesting he seems to get by the day. When she met them again after leaving, she was surprised to find she could no longer access the minds of the other two girls, knowing it had something to do with Theoric and those two new tattooed rings on their fingers. She couldn't wait for everything to be over so she could get back to prying out his every secret, among other fun, tasty activities.
As they were cutting through the abandoned streets, a beastly cry rang out from behind bringing a halt to Theoric's group to see what was going on, shaking his head when Selene and her group continued without them.
She already warned them that time was ticking, she wasn't about to stop now because of some random noise.
Sighing, he started to take a look around for the first time and appreciate the advanced underground city landscape they were in. The Deviants accomplished quite the impressive setup, looking up to the ceiling where you expect to see rocks or dirt, instead, you see a holographic sky to emulate the outside, so as to keep their people spirits up and help them forget the failures of the past and where they were now.
Theoric still had some basic knowledge of what the Deviants were and where they came from, but as for whether they were still living in the future or not, he had no idea.
Spotting an Orange blur jumping along rooftops brought him out of his musings as Grani who was still pretty big, took the initiative to engage, growing his size further as the thoughts of smashing something orange brought him great joy.
"Theo, I thought you like creatures now, why are you still so mean to Grani?" Asked a curious Sigyn watching Grani.
"Tsk, that's the price he has to pay for staying next to my woman," Theoric shamelessly said.
Sigyn grinned,- "But he's just a pet," she said forgetting she once argued he wasn't and was in fact a friend.
"Ture, just a pet," chuckled Theoric, not at all interested in reminding her.
You could almost see the invisible arrow pierce Grani as he tried concentrating on finding the Orange blur, further motivated by Theorics laugh.
Grani roared angrily as he swatted at the Orange creature that tried to slip by, smashing through the building, just missing as the Orange creature dodged the claw, grabbing onto the arm so as not to be caught up in the falling rubble.
Climbing up it went for Grani's face only to have to dodge the other arm as it pushed off to another nearby rooftop.
Theoric seeing something familiar formed a hand to capture it while it was still in the air, pulling it over for the rest to see, ignoring the indigent grumblings of a very sour green giant.
It was Spike, the Deviant mutate Ghaur left behind, struggling to free itself.
"Well now, doesn't this look familiar, tell me Grani, is this another friend of yours?" Asked Theoric, ignoring his displeasure at having his prey taken away.
Grinding his teeth in frustration, Grani responded venomously,- "No, I would remember something with such a disgusting color."
"Yeah, no shit, I asked if it was familiar, there was another with brown that I'm sure was a part of your experiments, and the Deviants are the ones who were likely doing it, so is your master nearby I wonder, you did say it was underwater if I recall correctly," said Theoric.
"I don't know," said Grani.
"Well, whatever, we'll leave it here and go before Sigyn gets bloodthirsty again," Theoric joked.
"Hey! That was a mistake, and I only laughed cause laughing is infectious, not because I enjoyed it!" Sigyn pouted.
Theoric laughed, hugging Sigyn,- "It's okay my dear, but I have to ask are you sure you wish to continue this path of being by my side in battle? You've seen what's it like, it's only going to get worst from here, and don't think I'll be any less happy if you choose not to, I'll be happy with whatever you decide."
Sigyn buried her head in his chest,- "I, I can handle it, I want to stay by your side," she said looking up with determination in her eyes.
Theoric grinned,- "If that's what you want, you'll have my full support, and if it makes it easier don't think about attacking and killing, think about defending and supporting, it suits you best."
"Mn," said Sigyn as he took her lips.
"Theo, what of Selene, do you plan on giving her a ring?" Asked Sigyn.
"I don't know, I know things don't look particularly good, but I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, for now," Theoric answered carefully, hearing the concern in Sigyn's voice.
"You know she isn't Hela," Sigyn firmly pointed out, thinking about how similar the two of them were and how Theoric may be getting blindsided because of it.
"I know..." Theoric sighed more out of guilt of not sharing what he knew about Hela with Sigyn than sadness as she might suspect. He didn't feel the need to let her know and needlessly worry or sadden her about the situation, but that didn't make the feelings of guilt any less.
"Come on, we're falling behind now, Anna awaits," said Theoric getting rid of his thoughts as he moved the orange monkey-looking Deviant away. Since it wasn't natural, he was less inclined to care about what happened to it, though he still wouldn't wish to see it come to harm due to its uniqueness, so he left it to its own devices.
It wasn't hard to find them again once bodies were spotted, following the carnage they caught up to the minions who lagged behind without his powers to help speed them up. He put a bit more effort, realizing if he lagged too far behind he may get stuck here without a working portal which wouldn't be nice.
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Sometime later, Ghaur received a message after just cleaning up his latest problem.
"Urgent message for Priest Lord."
"Go ahead," Ghaur said.
"Sir, we've had a water breach in a new sector which we are dealing with but the main group that came through has invaded all the way to the portal room, what are your orders?"
Ghaur frowned taking a moment to think about it,- "Portal room you say? Did they just stumble upon it?" He asked, trying to determine if that was their goal or not.
"No sir, their leader headed straight there with them close behind."
Mulling it over once more, he groaned about how Kro and the late king Tode didn't confide in him anymore and left him out of why they were so confident in taking the surface back from the Olympians. They had to have an ace in the hole or something that gave them the courage to go against those monsters.
And not knowing it put him in a difficult spot, how could he trust that Kro would get the job done or not, the fact is he couldn't.
Left with little choice, Ghaur sighed, he and Kro may not be getting along, but they were still his people,- "Contact General Kro and let him know they're coming through, and then shut down the portal behind them, we have to stabilize our home, can't risk threats from over there, we can only hope that General Kro succeeds without us, once we've gotten things under control then we can revisit the portal and see how things went."
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Once the portal was closed, the Deviants went on the offense to drive the Atlanteans and Aqueos away.
With Selene gone her hold over the Aqueos weakened and they were able to retreat after having more than enough battle.
The Atlanteans followed shortly after with King Thakorr still in command.
Back at Atlantis though, things changed as the leaders secretly gathered, where they told of their King's deeds and what he's become to the rest of the royal family and generals.
A unanimous decision was reached to oust Thakorr from the throne and banish him from Atlantis.
An enraged Thakorr left to the depths to join the Aqueos, becoming their Highlord, and in his anger, he gathered them up and led them to war against Atlantis.
The Atlanteans only saving grace was the fact their entire army did not attack the Deviants like the Aqueos due to limited ship space, they still had plenty of fresh recruits in reserve. Whereas the Aqueos were forced to swim the entire way to face war whether they wished to or not because of Selene's commands.
A tough and brutal war played out between the two, until the final battle where one woman known as Oudvrou held back the tides with her army, surviving with only her left eye, she broke the enemy making them retreat.
A shallow peace was established thereafter, and from then, Aqueos satiated themselves by performing silent raids upon Atlantis, rarely witnessed.